A Bloody Christmas Present
by Roksiel
Summary: Heiwajima Shizuo hates Christmas, or does he?


Snow has its very own unique and special beauty so the unforeseen appearance of large snowflakes falling from the sky on Christmas Eve was a happy turn of events for most inhabitants of Tokyo. Christmas in Japan was not the same as everywhere else but it was still a night that held a special meaning in the hearts of many. Some confessed their feelings to the people they loved while most enjoyed a quiet family dinner. Children were especially fond of the Christmas cake brought by their parents as they arrived home from work.

There were of course also those who couldn't have cared less about it. Heiwajima Shizuo was such a person. He lived alone, he rarely talked to his family and he didn't really have that many friends. There was of course Shinra and Celty but the last thing he wanted to do was to disturb the two of them while Shinra was probably confessing his love to Celty for like the millionth time. As for Tom, his boss, he got along well with him but he couldn't exactly call him a friend since they didn't tend to hang out together after work.

Speaking of work, Shizuo especially hated working on Christmas Eve because it was one of the busiest days of the year. People had the unhealthy habit of borrowing even more money as the New Year approached only to find themselves unable to pay back their debts which in turn made them unpredictable creatures. Shizuo never really saw that baseball bat heading straight for his head, too focused on beating up the man in front of him to worry about the guy's previously thought to be the scared-shitless buddy behind him. He did however felt it as it broke once it hit home.

He frowned at the memory and gingerly touched the back of his head, then winced as his fingertips felt the coldness of the crimson liquid. His day couldn't have possibly gone any worse so all he wanted to do was to go home, take a shower, and get some much needed rest. Things however rarely went the way he wanted or expected and he wasn't at all surprised when he felt the louse's presence nearby. Hell, he could even smell the bastard from miles away, his disgusting stench tainting Ikebukuro's air the second he set foot in it.

It was official, Heiwajima Shizuo hated Christmas.

His eye twitched in annoyance, already feeling the beginning of a vicious headache. There was no point in trying to locate the insect since Shizuo knew with absolute certainty that the bastard was heading straight for him so he lit up a cigarette and waited for Izaya's sing-song voice to call him by that retarded nickname.

"Ah, Shizu-chan, fancy seeing you here~," said Izaya as he made his appearance from around the corner.

With trembling hands Shizuo took a drag from the cigarette. "Flea, I told you to stay out of Ikebuburo how many times already?"

Izaya chuckled, pulled out the flickblade from the pocket of his coat and approached Shizuo as though the other man wasn't a hair's breath away from snapping and crushing him until there would be nothing left but dust. "Aww, but it's Christmas Shizu-chan, and you know how much I like people-watching during this time of year," said Izaya in a whiny voice, a pout now adorning his youthful visage. "Besides, I wanted to see how my favorite monster spends Christmas Eve," added Izaya, a malicious smirk replacing the previous innocent expression.

Shizuo stopped mid-air as he was about to take another drag from the cigarette, unconsciously breaking it in half as his archenemy finally got to him. "IZAAAYAAAAA-KUN!" growled Shizuo as he threw away the remnants of the cigarette and rushed to grab and pull out of concrete the nearest street sign. "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill" he kept murmuring as the chase began, the slippery bastard that was Izaya laughing as though he had no care in the world. Shizuo saw red and the next second he swung the street sign in hope of smacking Izaya like the annoying flea that he was only to fail miserably.

"Shizu-chan should really stop this unsightly display of violence so I could give him the present I bought 'specially for him," said Izaya loud enough for Shizuo to hear, only to laugh in response at the man's angry roar.

Everything about Izaya pissed Shizuo off, especially the inhuman agility the insect seemed to be capable of each time they ran into each other. Then again, it was the only way for someone like Orihara Izaya who didn't posses extraordinary strength to be able to confront Shizuo and walk away with minimum damage. He threw the street sign at Izaya and instead of the agonized scream he hoped to get he only heard mocking laughter. He did however hear a few screams but those were merely the cries of a startled passerby.

"Shizu-chaaan, catch me if you can," said Izaya as he jumped over a fence.

Shizuo immediately followed and for a split second he was amazed at his own agility but quickly got over it when he figured it was only natural considering how he'd been trying to kill the flea for years. "Stop running you bastard!" yelled Shizuo when he almost grabbed Izaya by the fur of his coat.

Izaya laughed again, a bit out of breath this time. "I'm not suicidal Shizu-chan, so I can't acquiesce to your request."

Then Izaya started running faster, something that Shizuo didn't think was possible, and seeing how he was out of options he grabbed the nearest object which happened to be a fist-sized wooden gnome sitting on the table of a street vendor. He thought he heard the man scream after him but he tuned everything out except for the sounds of Izaya's footsteps. He swung his arm to get momentum in order to hit harder but just as he was about to throw it Izaya turned around the corner and Shizuo barely managed to stop himself in time. He followed Izaya and found himself in the narrow space between two apartment buildings. His most hated enemy was not that far ahead of him so he took the opportunity to aim the gnome straight for Izaya's head. He didn't think he'd actually hit but he did and when Izaya dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes he stood frozen on the spot, finding it very hard to believe that he actually succeeded in hitting the insect with it.

Heiwajima Shizuo was starting to like Christmas.

Knowing that time was of the essence when it came to capturing the flea he pounced on the stunned man like a predator on its prey and judging by the shocked look Izaya was giving him it was obvious that the brunet was just as surprised as Shizuo had been mere moments before. He immediately twisted Izaya's arms behind his back then picked him up and pinned him to the wall.

Izaya grunted in pain as his already bleeding head made contact with the hard surface and Shizuo grinned maliciously at the sound that was like music to his ears.

"Shi-Shizu-chan," said Izaya but before he could say more Shizuo grabbed a fistful of black hair and pulled back hard enough to make him yelp.

Shizuo flashed him a terrifying grin and judging by the way the flea tensed in his grasp he knew that Izaya was afraid that he might not make it out alive. "You told me to catch you if I can," said Shizuo and paused to look into Izaya's fearful crimson eyes, "and guess what? I caught you."

"Indeed you have Shizu-chan, good job! I'd give you a pat on the back but I'm a bit tied up at the moment," said Izaya and snickered when Shizuo's grin morphed into an angry snarl.

"Shut the fuck up," said Shizuo through gritted teeth and smashed Izaya's head into the wall the second the bastard opened his mouth to mock him some more. Izaya's eyes turned in his head and Shizuo eased his grip only to regret it as Izaya somehow managed to get his now free hand on the flickblack and slash at Shizuo's fingers that were still clenched in his hair. Shizuo staggered back and before he could react Izaya propped his foot on the wall and pushed himself backwards hard enough to throw Shizuo into the opposite wall. Shizuo grunted as he hit the wall quite hard and he raised his arms just in time to protect his neck from being slashed. The knife made a deep cut on his forearm but Shizuo didn't care because he could not under any circumstance allow Izaya to escape his grasp again. Sometimes, in a fight, you have to sacrifice something in order to win. With this new mindset he lunged at Izaya, the bastard's knife barely missing his heart and embedding itself into his shoulder instead. His right hand flew towards Izaya's neck whilst his left one grabbed his right wrist, successfully immobilizing the insect once again. He tightened his grip on that wrist and soon enough Izaya let go of the knife as the pain became too much, an anguished scream escaping his bloody lips.

"Ne, Shizu-chan, are you really trying to kill me?" asked Izaya, his venomous tone betraying his anger at having been caught by Shizuo again.

Shizuo looked at him incredulously. "Are you seriously asking me this after you just tried to kill me yourself?"

Izaya scoffed, then threw Shizuo a hate-filled glare but the blond didn't care anymore about what Izaya had to say because the flea was at his mercy and he would finally get the chance to take his revenge on the asshole that kept screwing up his life. He tightened his hold around the frail neck, knowing how easy it would be to break it and even though he really wanted to do so he knew that the flea was not worth him spending the rest of his life in jail. There was no doubt that the flea sorely deserved to die and much more but Shizuo was no hero and he didn't want to rid the world of the insect at the price of his own freedom. He wasn't that selfless.

And since killing Izaya was out of the question he did the only thing he could do to the flea, which was to beat him within an inch of his miserable life. He punched and kicked until he heard bones break and even then he didn't stop because a few broken bones were not enough to satisfy his thirst for revenge. When Izaya tried to hit back he only hit him harder and when the flea tried to get up Shizuo made sure he could not do it again anytime soon. By the time he was done venting his rage Izaya was a bloody mess of bruised flesh and broken bones.

Shizuo took a deep breath and tried to slow down his racing heart. His eyes wandered to the broken Informant and for some strange reason he couldn't stop grinning like an idiot.

"That felt good," said Shizuo and finally remembered to pull out the flickblade still embedded in his shoulder blade. He looked at it for a moment then let it drop on the ground next to Izaya's beaten body.

Izaya opened an eye at the sound of metal hitting concrete and tried to say something only to gurgle instead as blood filled his throat. He turned his head with the little strength he had left and spit some of the blood so he could talk. "My po-pocket," Shizuo heard him say and the blond remembered that Izaya said he had a present for him. "Why the hell not?" he shrugged and crouched next to Izaya to look through his pockets. He found the present in the right pocket of the flea's pants and he heard the bastard laugh when Shizuo frowned at the sight of the small Hulk phone accessory that was obviously meant as an insult.

Shizuo however was feeling quite good after blowing off some steam so he gave Izaya a genuine smile instead of the angry scowl the bastard was hoping for. "Thanks Izaya-kun," Shizuo said and got up, chuckling at the stunned expression on the man's bloody face.

"Merry Christmas flea," said Shizuo and left Izaya in that dark alley knowing that someone would find him sooner or later. Preferably later rather than sooner.

He grinned during his entire walk home, not even caring that he was a bloody mess himself, and when he reached his apartment he slumped on the couch and allowed his body to finally relax.

It had felt really good to beat up Orihara Izaya and his opinion on Christmas did a one hundred and eighty degrees turn.

Heiwajima Shizuo loved Christmas.


End file.
